Chapter 25

Monday afternoon found Abby standing behind the cash register at the Taco Emporium. It was the quiet time of the day when there were few customers and the store had been cleaned. There wasn’t much to do except drink a soda and stare out the large glass windows that fronted the store. She was bored, but had to admit that the job was still better than the one at the nursing home.

The peace was broken when her manager came into the store looking upset. He walked behind the counter and said, “This country is so fucked up.”

“What happened?” Abby asked shocked at his language.

He answered, “I was listening to the radio on the way here. Congress just passed a national fat tax.”

“What is that?” Abby asked.

He said, “All prepared foods that have more than ten calories per ounce will be subject to a ten percent tax. They can’t tax fat people so they are going to tax the stuff that makes people fat.”

“What?” Abby asked thinking that had to include just about every kind of food in existence. It would cost more to buy candies, pies, soft drinks, fast foods, and every snack in existence.

Her manager frowned and said, “It is all part of the president’s health care initiative. The health freaks think that Americans are too fat and they want to tax us into being thin.”

“Americans are overweight,” Abby said. There were lots of stories about how being overweight added to the problems of chronic health problems like diabetes. She had to agree with the President on the problem, but that didn’t mean she had to like his solution.

“Our economy is tanking and they are passing laws that will kill the fast food industry,” her manager said. He was afraid that the increased prices would kill this store and he’d be out looking for a job. Without the fast food industry to fall back upon, jobs were going to get very scarce.

“Fuck,” Abby said feeling sick to her stomach. She hadn’t even thought about how the law would affect her personally beyond the fact that it would cost more to shop.

“You can say that again,” her manager said. He said, “Business is already down by five percent. I don’t think we can survive the shock of another downturn in business.”

All of the fast food places had to raise their prices over the past six months because of the bio-fuel initiatives legislated since the president took office. The price of corn had risen dramatically and farmers across the country had turned to corn as the main cash crop. Rather than sending the corn into the food supply line, the majority of the corn was being sent to make ethanol. Since corn was used to feed meat animals, the price of meat was going through the roof. With a reduction in the production of wheat, the price of bread had risen. The price of a fast food taco had gone up by twenty-five cents in just a year’s time. She said, “I think a lot of people are going to be looking for work soon.”

He looked around the store and asked, “Are we ready for the after school crowd?”

“Yeah,” Abby answered. She was stuck in a part-time job at a fast food place because she couldn’t find another job. Now they were passing laws that would likely to make her unemployed. As much as she complained about the low pay and lack of benefits, at least it was a job.

“I’m going into my office,” her manager said, feeling depressed. He figured that he had another six months in business before the chain would start closing stores unless they were able to come up with a strategy to avoid the fat tax. The idea of selling Tofu tacos just didn’t seem like the kind of thing that would attract customers.

Abby stood at the cash register feeling depressed. Even though she hadn’t lost her job, she knew the writing was on the wall. She sighed and said, “Life just hauled off and kicked me again.”

She didn’t have long to think about it. The after-school crowd started and she was busy until the high school kid came in to replace her at the register. She stepped out of the Taco Emporium and looked over at the stores in the strip mall. Another store had put up a sign announcing that it was going out of business. She shook her head. The little store hadn’t had many people working for it, but that didn’t matter. Three more people were about to become unemployed and she would soon have to compete with them for a job.

Getting in her car, she headed home. She drove slowly and looked at the stores that lined the street. There were too many empty storefronts. The little boutiques that had once been so popular were disappearing one by one. People were heading to the large discount chains to buy clothing. Fashion was losing out to economics. She didn’t even know what the current fashion trend was dictating. Her clothes were all more than a year old and getting older. She knew that it was going to be time for her to start shopping for clothes at the Salvation Army.

Abby turned on the radio and listened to a news channel. Congress and the president were busy passing all kinds of little laws to correct the problems of society. It seemed to her that each law passed took away more of her freedom. They didn’t come out and say it that way, but that was the effect. She wasn’t prevented by law from having a cigarette or a drink; she just couldn’t afford to do that because of the laws. She knew that in the future that would extend to soft drinks, candies, and fast foods. The things she ate as a child would become prohibitively expensive and a distant memory. She knew that meals in the future would be limited to vegetables and chicken. Grains, cheeses, and ice cream would become luxury foods.

The sad thing was that all of these new laws were constitutional. She couldn’t complain that her freedoms were being stripped away because if she was wealthy she would have been able to afford them.

She muttered, “The pursuit of happiness is going to be all pursuit and no happiness.”

Abby drove past a lingerie store and noticed a number of scantily dressed women standing around outside it. She looked in the mirror at the group of women wondering what they were doing there. It hit her like a ton of bricks when she realized what they were doing. The idea that she was seeing her future nearly caused her to wreck the car. Arriving at home, Abby went to her bedroom and curled up on her bed. She was depressed and didn’t want to talk to anyone. She started crying uncontrollably.

Jack got off of work after having had a good day. The anti-slip flooring on one of the stairs had been torn as a result of normal wear and tear and he had spent the day repairing it. The work hadn’t been too demanding, but had filled the time. Before leaving, he had been informed that there was going to be a special event Saturday that would require him to come in and help set up chairs out on the lawn. He would get paid time and a half to be there.

Deciding that he would celebrate by buying a soft drink, he stopped at a convenience store on the way home. He grabbed a bottle and went to the counter with it. The clerk at the cash register said, “You might want to stock up on that. The prices on sodas will be going up ten percent as a result of the new fat tax.”

“What fat tax?” Jack asked looking at the bottle of soda.

“The one that Congress passed today,” the clerk answered. He shook his head and said, “It passed without much debate. You would think someone would have fought it considering the kinds of lobbyists that there are in Washington.”

“What is a fat tax?” Jack asked still confused by the concept.

“Any prepared food that has more than ten calories per ounce is subject to a ten percent national sales tax,” the clerk answered.

“You’re kidding?” Jack said. He looked at all of the items in the store thinking that there wasn’t a single item that was less than ten calories per ounce.

“If the President signs the bill, then the tax goes into effect on the first of the month,” the clerk answered.

“What is this world coming to?” Jack asked feeling sick to his stomach. He knew that people would pay the tax. Movie theaters charged a fortune for popcorn and sodas without affecting their sales.

“I don’t know,” the clerk answered. He examined Jack and asked, “What do you think of prostitution?”

“I don’t know. I never really thought about it. People will do whatever they have to do to get by, I guess,” Jack answered.

The clerk leaned over and whispered, “There’s a blond woman out front handing out a flyer. A couple of local women are opening a brothel. If you’re interested, ask her for one.”

“What?” Jack asked finding it incredible that someone was handing out brochures for a brothel at a convenience store.

The clerk said, “I wouldn’t normally do this, but I know the woman. She’s been a regular customer here for years. She’s a nice lady. She’s got two kids and has been out of work for three months. She’s desperate.”

Jack held up the bottle of soda and said, “I’ll think about it. Let me pay for this.”

“Sure thing,” the clerk said ringing up the sale.

Jack left the store and looked around. There was a fairly attractive blond woman standing by the ice machine with a large purse in her hands. He took a moment to study her. She looked like a person who had been beaten down by life. Her eyes were dull and her posture was bad. He figured that she had to be really desperate to be standing there. He wasn’t sure if the clerk was doing her a favor or not by telling people about her.

He got into his truck and headed for home thinking about the woman back at the store. He noticed that a couple of women wearing revealing outfits were standing around in front of rundown lingerie store. He stared at them realizing that they were soliciting. He drove past them thinking that the world had gone to hell. Driving past the hardware store, he noticed a dozen men standing around. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that they were looking for work. He said, “It is nearly five o’clock. What are they doing there still?”

The radio announced that the military was no longer accepting recruits. The annual quota for enlistments had already been exceeded. The situation was made even worse by plans to reduce the size of the military. Jack said, “It is really bad when you can’t get into the Army.”

It seemed to Jack that the whole world was spiraling out of control - women advertising brothels at convenience stores, women standing out on the street soliciting, men lined up in front of a hardware store looking for even a few hours of work, and the military was refusing new recruits. Jack wasn’t sure what he made of the situation. He wondered if the commune would be enough to get them through the coming times.

Jack parked his truck in front of his house. He debated about going into the house or heading to the community house. He decided that he could use a little company and headed over to the community house. The house was empty except for Wanda who was busy cooking dinner at the stove. Seeing him come in, she said, “Hello, Jack. How was work?”

“It was a good day. I’m going to get some overtime this weekend,” Jack said.

“That’s great,” Wanda said turning back to the stove.